Thứ Ba, 22 tháng 8, 2017

IntellectualProperty is the product of your thinking that can
be used for commercial value. In other words, you think of a song and write
down the words – you have the legal right to prevent others from copying or
making a song based on your lyrics. This right you have can make you money if someone
is willing to pay you for your song. Maybe your boss asked you to write a
computer program. Who owns the work? You may have designed a new mouse trap and
have the design on computer. Or you have created a distinctive logo for your
company. But Intellectual Property goes deeper than songs or even copyrights.
Let’s examine the four main areas of Intellectual Property law: Trade
Secrets, Copyrights, Trademarks and Patents.

Trade secrets give the
owner a competitive edge. If some information has value to competitors and they
don’t know about it – then it’s a trade secret. If the information was not kept
reasonably safe (secret) then it’s not a trade secret. Trade secrets may be
sold with the business or stolen from bad employees. Maybe a former employee
didn’t sign a non-disclosure statement before going to work at the competition.
Some also reverse engineer software to gain the source code. This highly protected
source code for computers is their trade secret, giving them an advantage over
the competition. The trick is you have to keep your trade secrets as such,
secrets.

Copyrights protect all kinds of writing by singers, writers,
programmers, artists, etc… These are the best known of all intellectual
property. Registering with the US Copyright office can enhance the automatic
protection. You must have your copyright material on paper, tape, or computer.
Copyright protection applies to the “literal expression.” It doesn’t protect
the “underlying” theme of the writing. It must have some creativity. You can’t
copyright a simple list. You don’t actually have to have a copyright notice
since March 1st, 1989. The recommended notice is “copyright” year author’s
name. For example, this article will have a copyright. Copyright 2005 Stuart
Simpson. But it is not necessary.

Trademarks must be
aunique name, design, symbol, logo,
color, container, etc…that businesses use to distinguish their goods from
others in the same market. You should have a strong name for a mark, as common
words receive less protection. Like Stuart’s Cold Ice Cream Company. My name
and the descriptive term (cold) are weak marks. But a distinctive name like
Netflix, is a strong mark. Netflix is technically a “service” mark. It falls
into the same category as trademarks. Your trademark must be submitted to the
US Patent and Trademark Office (PTO). But first, the mark must be put into use
“in commerce that Congress may regulate.” This means you have to sell across
state lines or have a business that caters to interstate or international
travelers. After you do this, you can file another form to show the mark is
actually being used. The PTO checks for similar marks. You can’t use the
circled R just yet. You can only use this if your logo or mark has been
registered.

Patent law givesinventor
of new and special invention the right to use this invention for a fixed period of time.
The US Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) must find that the invention qualifies
for patent protection. Your invention has to be new and novel, not obvious.
What do you do with a patent? Normally, the inventors get a license agreement
with a company to produce the product for a period of time. In exchange, the
company pays the inventor royalties for each item sold.

Intellectual property
goes further in depth on each of these items. I wanted to give you a brief
description to help broaden your knowledge base when writing, creating or
inventing. If your work falls into one of the above categories, do more
research. I will be writing on each specific area in the future.